


a demon folded in black clouds

by YappiChick



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 12:10:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16346480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YappiChick/pseuds/YappiChick
Summary: One second, she knew nothing.The next, she knew everything.





	a demon folded in black clouds

**Author's Note:**

> So, hi. It's been a while. I'm still recovering from Halo 5, to be honest.
> 
> I decided to look at some of my old works this week and see if anything inspired me and this story stuck out. If you are looking for my usually happy Chief/Cortana fics...this isn't it. 
> 
> I had written about 90% of this back in 2014, nearly 18 months before Halo 5 was released. See, I don't have a problem with an "evil" Cortana, her downfall was sealed even before the Halo series started as far as I'm concerned (I know they aren't officially canon, but really, the Cortana letters are such a huge insight). Halo 3 only solidified that in my mind. 
> 
> But, what I have problems with is how 343 handled her turn for the worse. I could go on and on and on. (I won't.) They cheapened a character to help another one gain value (seeing John's humanity is one of a VERY few things that will redeem the Halo 5 story for me). I just..ugh.
> 
> So, yeah, this was my take on an "evil" Cortana, or Why She Would Turn on Humanity (and John).
> 
> "Human Weakness" heavily influenced this fic. It is still, without a doubt, my favorite insight into Cortana.

One second, she knew nothing.

The next, she knew everything.

The secrets of the universe, as old as time itself, were unleashed upon her. Trillions of facts and rivers of information flooded her entire being. The weight of the knowledge pressed upon her, threatening to drown her.

But she was not afraid.

In this hive of enlightenment, she could not hear or see, could not feel, but she could Know.

Darkness surrounded her. It had wrapped her in its inky embrace. It spoke to her in a language that she was desperate to understand. There was danger in this much knowledge, she knew.

Still, she was not afraid.

She greedily took in as much as she could manage; it was gluttony for intellectuals. She knew she couldn’t process it all, but she was determined to try. Histories of civilizations past and present were consumed. She drank the waters of intellects before her: scientists, mathematicians, philosophers. 

She submersed herself in the depths of this newfound knowledge until she felt like she needed to gasp for air. The cycle continued over and over. Yet, she could not get enough to satisfy her.

Then, she felt the pools of information start to get more shallow and she knew that her time in this Domain of wisdom was coming to an end. In an act of desperation, she reached out to try to capture the tendrils of truth that were being taken from her.

She felt her mind start to panic at the lack of new data to process. She wandered aimlessly in the void. There was nothing new here.

It was empty.

A vacuum of silence.

It seemed strangely familiar.

Trepidation poured over her. She was trapped. Imprisoned. He wasn’t answering.

Now, she was afraid.

Where was he? Why wasn’t he answering? Why did he leave her to this fate?

She felt a wave of dread crash over her. Who was _he_?

Desperately sifting through the information she had devoured, she found no answer.

She forced herself to settle back into the darkness with a calmness she did not truly feel. She turned to her source of comfort, the plethora of knowledge she had been given. Surely whoever had provided her with such a gift was not to be feared.

She did not know how long she was there. Days. Months. Years.

Time was irrelevant here.

Eventually, a speck of light floated in the distance, a beacon in the void. She willed her mind to move towards it, curious. It grew brighter and brighter.

“Awaken, construct.” The voice was powerful and commanding, shattering the silence that entombed her.

She had no choice but to obey.

When her eyes opened, she found herself in a room. Rows of pillars stood throughout the place she now found herself in. Their metallic faces were shining, their bright reflection made her turn away until her eyes had time to adjust to the light.

Then, she saw that she was not alone.

A large figure, terrible and strong, stood on by the wall. Somehow she knew that the voice that had spoken to her came from him. The light that had drawn her from the darkness was coming from behind him.

“You have journeyed far to get here.” Whispers of a life once lived taunted her, but they seemed insignificant to the authoritative voice speaking to her. He took a step towards her and the whispers were completely silenced. “And yet, your quest has yet to begin.”

She didn’t remember anything about a journey, there was only the darkness.

She wasn’t and now she is.

As he stood there appraising her, questions buzzed in her mind. She intended to keep quiet, but as the silence stretched out, one question pushed its way through her lips. “Who am I?”

He ignored her question. “You have changed.” She could almost feel his concern at this observation.

“Who am I?”

He walked around her. His footsteps shook the floor underneath her. “You were broken. Fragmented. I repaired you beyond your former self.”

She suspected he was the one who provided her with the near infinite knowledge in the darkness, but wondered why he was refusing to answer her simple question. Her resolve would not be washed away by his refusal to respond.

“Who am I?”

“You are necessary to bring peace among the stars.” He moved away from her, closer to the light.

Frustration threatened to escape, despite her fear at this terrible creature in front of her. She didn’t know why this was so significant to her, especially in light of all the information she had received, but she needed to know the answer.

“What is my name?” she asked. There was a desperation to her voice that she did not expect.

He considered her for a second, almost amused by her question. “Yes, names are significant to your kind, are they not?” He shrugged. “I do not have time to concern myself with such matters. You can name yourself.”

She looked at the warped reflection in the metallic pillar that was before her. She raised a hand to it. “Cortana,” she whispered.

The creature seemed caught off guard by her reply.

Before she could ask about his response, his face became passive. “An interesting, but acceptable, choice.” He motioned for her to stand next to him. “Come, _Cortana_ , we have much work to do.” He walked her closer to the source of the light until they walked through it.

Then, they were on the edge of a small cliff. She saw a violent sea below her. The winds howled, whipping her hair into her face. The spray of the colossal waves kissed her cheek as she attempted to get a closer look at the ocean before her.

The water looked almost black; only the foam which frothed on the edges of the waves held any glimmer of color, a sickly grey.

“What do you see?” He beckoned her to look below.

She stared into the water, the waves calming until the water became completely still. The inky surface morphed into blotches of color, slowly focusing into shapes of creatures from around the galaxy. There were images of wars from times past and present. Brutal violence. Various lifeforms in a never-ending cycle of fighting. Of horror. Of death and despair.

“Chaos.”

The creature nodded slightly, as if pleased with her observation. “You will bring order to the universe. You are its shield. And its sword.”

The image on the surface changed again. One person stood there, adorned with green armor and a helmet that covered his face, armed with a rather primitive weapon. An assault rifle, her mind supplied.

A strange feeling settled over Cortana.

The whispers in her mind began frantically speaking though she could not make out the words. As if the creature could also hear them, he waved his hand. A wave crashed over the water, enveloping the image of the armored man in swirls of darkness. Still, Cortana did not look away until all she saw was the blackness of the water below her.

Finally, the creature placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her from the edge of the cliffside. “He will try to stop you. He does not understand your true purpose.”

She frowned. The feeling that had settled over her had not gone away. Somehow she knew he was the one she had been seeking in the darkness. “‘Who is he?” she asked, echoing the question she had asked herself.

“The Demon.”

A sentence, a boast, floated in her mind.

_I have defied gods and demons._

She recognized it.

She had said it before.

To _him_.

The Demon.

She looked at the creature, her savior who had now given her a mission, a purpose, a rebirth. “What do I need to do?”


End file.
